1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to stringed musical instruments and method of playing same and more particularly to stringed musical instruments having an elongated fretted fingerboard with a plurality of tensioned strings, immediately above the fingerboard, which are strummed or plucked with a pick or with the fingers, or are tapped with the fingers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Stringed musical instruments which are plucked have been known for nearly 3,000 years with earliest origins in the Middle East and the Orient. The most popular fretted instrument in the United States has been the "guitar." The guitar usually has 6 strings but may have as few as 4 (base guitar) and as many as 12 strings. Other fretted, stringed instruments of the guitar family include: the "lute," popular in Europe during the 1500's and 1600's (6 strings); the "balalaika" with Russian origin (2-4 strings); the "mandolin" (4-5 double strings of wire); the "banjo" (4 or more strings) with its drumlike body and long fretted neck; the "ukullele," a small guitar of Portuguese origina popularized in Hawaii (typically has 4 strings); and the "Spanish guitar" of Spanish origin in the 1500's.
The modern guitar is comprised basically of an elongated fingerboard or neck terminating in an upper headpiece which includes a number of string tensioning members (tuning pegs). The fingerboard bears a series of spaced frets (narrow metal cross strips) against which the strings are stopped (pressed) to vary the effective length of the strings and thus the musical sound of the strings. Commonly, guitars are provided with 20 to 26 frets. The fingerboard terminates at its lower end in a tailpiece or soundboard. The strings are tensioned over the fingerboard, and its frets, between a headpiece nut and the tailpiece bridge. The lower ends of the strings, beyond the bridge, are anchored in known manner to the tailpiece. The upper ends of the strings, beyond the nut, are attached to the tuning pegs of the headpiece.
The great majority of present-day guitars, and instruments of the guitar family, include electronic means and systems for amplifying the musical notes produced by the vibrations of the strings when actuated as by being plucked by a plectum (pick) or strummed or tapped by the player's fingers. In electric guitars, the sound amplifying means usually comprises a set of magnetic pickups, each pickup being situated close to (most often directly under) a string, and the electric outputs of the pickups are fed to electric amplifier devices of well-known design. The set of pickups is located on the tailpiece between the bridge and the nearest fret on the fingerboard.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide novel construction of electric guitars which generate bi-directional notes by the plucking, strumming or tapping of the guitar strings.
It is a further principal object of the invention to provide a unique method of playing the electric bi-directional guitars of the invention.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide novel construction of bi-directional electric guitars having elongated fretted fingerboards.
It is another object of the invention to provide a unique method of playing electric guitars which generate bi-directional notes by the plucking, strumming or tapping of the guitar strings.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following summary and detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.